I love food. I love eating it, talking about it, reading about it and especially cooking it.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Cranberry Chocolate Orange Cookies

Just like a puppy, a cranberry is for life you know, not just for Christmas! I had bought a bag of dried Cranberries in December but had forgotten about them until I did a clearout last week - their ruby squidginess makes them a great baking ingredient & I've seen them paired with orange before. I always like to go one step further and decided to add chocolate to the mix. Everybody loves chocolate cookies so I knew they would be a hit.

The trick with this recipe is to chill, chill and chill the dough again because it stops the raw dough spreading into an unseemly mass in the oven, rather than pristine cookies. I actually stick my dough in the freezer for about 25 minutes to make it as cold as possible, and repeat this with the leftover dough while the first batch is in the oven. I made the whole lot in my trusty Kenwood Chef using the K beater, and my new super duper Salter scales. If you saw what I've been using for scales until now, you'd laugh your head off...

This quantity makes exactly 36 large cookies. Bake them 9 to a sheet otherwise they'll run into each other. Trust me...

Transfer the mixture in two batches to sheets of clingfilm. Wrap, flatten & stick in the freezer for 25 minutes.

Now preheat your oven to 170c/Gas Mark 4 & line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

Remove the dough from the freezer & unwrap. Lay another sheet of clingfilm on top of the dough & roll out until about 1cm thick. Cut out using a cookie cutter into whatever shape you want, and place on the lined baking sheet, leaving a 3-4cm gap. Place baking sheet into the fridge for 10 minutes to allow the cookies to chill again. Wrap the remaining dough & put back into the freezer for Round 2

Bake for 10-12 minutes, allow to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to cooling racks.

Repeat the process with the rest of the dough.

Posted by
Aoife - Babaduck

2 comments:

I've never seen a cookie with that combo of flavors before but it really sounds so good. Fantastic idea. I have a sweet treat linky party going on at my blog until tomorrow night and I'd like to invite you to stop by and link your cookies up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/02/sweets-for-saturday-5.html

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About Me

Babaduck started life in 2010 to show one friend (Mrs. T) what to make for dinner, step by step and it's grown ever since.
I love writing about all aspects of food and drink, including creating simple easy to follow recipes with lots of photos, restaurant and product reviews, lots of food news and as much travel as I can cram in. I'm a self-confessed Francophile and love almost everything about la belle France, especially the wine. The Hubs is my beloved other half who taste tests all the recipes on your behalf and keeps me on an even keel.
So where did the name come from? The Hubs inspired the name - he calls me Baba & his friends call him The Duck. Simples.

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